Written by Emmanuel Vivier, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Vanksen and Thierry Daher, CEO of Vanksen USA and Executive Producer of Caid Productions, the report can be viewed online on Culture-Buzz.com.

You can also download the full report by clicking on this LINK.

Enjoy!!!

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When Muppets storm the web for a noble cause, who can resist?

Unless you’re utterly allergic to pink piglet divas and sensible frogs, you probably enjoyed The Muppet Show and its various iterations. Earlier last year, our friends from Disney (which acquired The Muppets in 2004) asked us to come up with an idea to kick off their new campaign: “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day.” The idea is simple and heart-warming: give a day of your time, volunteering with one of the hundreds of charities registered with Points of Light (http://www.pointsoflight.org/), and in exchange you’ll get a free day at Disney Land Resort or Walt Disney World.

We (in partnership with our sister company Vanksen USA) came up with a crazy concept (in line with our Muppet heroes), in which the Muppets personally ask you to help others – and possibly destroy a website or two along the way. We won’t ruin the surprise and tell you about the film before you watch it, but if you’re interested, check it out at www.disneyparksgive.com/customize.php.

This concept was just as crazy to produce, sending us from Disney Studios in California (that was the nice part), to our animation shop in NY – not to mention Europe and Japan, for technology bits and pieces. The result was a multi-layer interactive campaign that surprises viewers, even after viewing it a second, or third, time! (That’s a hint).

One interesting component is a video teaser we created exclusively for bloggers, where Kermit promotes your blog (http://www.disneyparksgive.com/spread-embed.php). We also came up with embeddable banners, personalized email, etc.

The campaign launched in early January, but its results continue to amaze us. While we can’t provide traffic details, it’s pretty obvious the Muppets rule the web: several hundred blogs have adopted the video, and the volunteer spirit is spreading fast. Rumor has it that Disney is well on its way to tackling the 1 million volunteers it aimed to enlist.

Stays tuned for more Muppets extravaganza as the story keeps unfolding – and yes, feel free to spread the spirit if you’re in the mood to do something good (http://www.disneyparksgive.com/spread-email.php)!

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When a viral conceives a TV commercial, drives store traffic…and helps a good cause!

Sound like the Swiss knife of marketing 2.0? That’s actually an apt metaphor.

There was a time when brands and major agencies would approach viral marketing agencies like us (CAID Productions, in partnership with our sister company Vanksen USA) with their glossies TV commercials and ask if we could make them “viral.” Our answer was always the same (“pfffff,” … followed by):  “You cannot make something viral out of a TV commercial unless it has been conceived as a viral from the start. People do not forward sales pitches, they pass along entertainment!”  

It finally seems that our preaching has been heeded (at least in some cases). One of our recent campaigns serves as a good example of this novelty, taking the opposite path and bringing a true viral to TV screens (to everyone’s satisfaction, we should add).

In Fall 2009, SEARS outerwear company Lands’ End asked us to come up with a creative concept for a web-based viral campaign. The objective was to encourage people to donate gently-used coats to Lands’ End shops in order to help the 8,000 homeless people of Boston, MA. The effort was titled “Big Boston Warm Up.” (www.bigbostonwarmup.com). 

 We created a short-format video (timed at 1:30 for the web) depicting the lifecycle of a coat (and its owner), using stop motion effects. The video depicts the moment a snappy new coat is offered to a young man, who wears it through his college years, his first job, the first date with his (eventual) wife, and the arrival of his kids. Finally the coat is donated to Big Boston Warm Up, where it passes into the hands of a grateful homeless person — and a meaningful new destiny.

We personalized the video’s ending, making the call-to-action more memorable to viewers: their names appeared on the label of the donated coat. We also developed custom modules, allowing the spread of the video on Twitter and Facebook.

When Lands’ End’s top management saw the video, they were so excited that they took the campaign national, renaming it “Big Nation Warm Up.” They also decided to run a 30-second version of the piece on TV! In this case, we went from Viral to television — which seems to be the way to go in the 21^st century, if only because an effort that first goes viral online enables you to forecast the sentiments of a larger number of people – thereby justifying the higher cost of a TV ad.

Additionally, the campaign had a built-in means of driving traffic to stores, since users had to bring their coats to Lands’ End shops nationwide in order to donate them. The results? We beat the odds in Boston, with Lands’ End collecting more coats than the total number of homeless people in the city. Nationwide, donations topped 30,000 coats in total.

What’s at the end of all that math? — an ROI positive campaign, a defining moment for the brand, and 30,000 homeless folks who will be warmer this winter than they would have been otherwise. Way to go viral!

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Massive Monkees, the dance crew featured in Caid Productions’ upcoming documentary release, The Way of the Bboy, is currently one of the top three finalists on MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew. Hailing from Seattle, Massive Monkees won first place in the 2004 Bboy World Championship 4-on-4 event in London’s Wembley Arena and were named UK Champs in 2006. In The Way of the Bboy, they appear in a how-to course on b-boying, or breakin’ (don’t call it breakdancing-to quote Jo Jo of Rock Steady Crew, “B-boy. that’s what it is, that’s why when the public changed it to ‘break-dancing’ they were just giving a professional name to it, but b-boy was the original name for it and whoever wants to keep it real would keep calling it b-boy”). The film received the award for Best Music Documentary in this year’s New York International Film and Video Festival.

Vote for Massive Monkees to become America’s Best Dance Crew on MTV’s website at:

http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/dance_crew/voting.jhtml?episodeId=6915

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COPA NYC wtih Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Documenting this story, Executive Producers –Caid Productions follows the steps along the way.

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Executive Produced by Thierry Daher

Produced by Popcorn Productions

and Massive Monkeys
Directed by Chad Ross & Zak Tucker

http://www.nyfilmvideo.com/

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collage FR vs.- GA

Like it or not, come next Saturday, the French team of COPA NYC will defiantly play against some of the World’s best athletes. Team Captain Frederick Lesort better be vigilant. As he led the team during Sunday’s friendly against Kojo Annan’s Team Ghana ( son of Kofi Annan ), Frederick demonstrated their competitive edge. “Fred” seemed measured as he thought out his practice match against Ghana. And, although it was just a fun match, France’s strength carried them to tie the game.
Kojo, on the other hand, gave an initial pep talk to his team then allowed them to play as hard as if they planned to win every single friendly. Ghana perpetuated a considerable amount of confidence that subsequently tied the game. Confidence and great athleticism on their behalf seems evident for next weeks’ tournaments. And, while tactics may change next week at the Flushing Meadows fields sixteen round robins on behalf of all teams, we can be sure that only strongest teams will advance on this coming Sunday towards the semi finals.
On hand to capture the afternoons France vs. Ghana friendly, was Yann Feron.

Let us take a sneak peek at some of our toughest athletes:

copa nyc gol defense

France Contemplates strategy

Photographer: Yann Feron

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While most of us take it for granted that we can get whatever we want by shopping at big established retailers, small businesses typically aren’t always cash flow rich.  The genius behind Shustir.com is that offers an opportunity which usually costs more than a business owner can afford, and that includes both marketing and sales.

Caid Productions has designed and helped promote Shustir.com’s business by creating an animation presentation video to accompany the launch of thier website as well as currently developing a viral video.

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We are at the forefront of independent viral videos, and we took pride in helping establish a connection between LIFELOCK’s business needs and their potential consumers.  With our assistance, and the powerful networks involved in bringing together this campaign, this primetime spot was watched by tens of millions of viewers.  And now, we can say we keep good company with the likes of the “TRUMP”.

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